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On the centennial of the Novarupta eruption – a cataclysmic event that created the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes in southwest Alaska – a group of 19 students and scientists will embark on the summer’s first hike to the massive volcano.The group is participating in the 2012 International Volcanological Field School, a two-week volcanology field class in Katmai National Park...

The Alaska Volcano Observatory was bustling around last week in preparation for Judy Fierstein’s evening lecture recoginzing the 100th anniversary of the 1912 Novarupta-Katmai eruption. In anticipation of the event, Geophysical Institute Research Professor Steve McNutt was featured in the evening newscast of CBS Channel 13 Fairbanks on Tuesday, April 24. See the spot here. ...

The Novarupta-Katmai Eruption of 1912 – Largest Eruption of the 20th Century: A Centennial Perspective Judy Fierstein, Research Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey Wednesday, April 25, 2012 2 p.m. in the Elvey Auditorium, University of Alaska Fairbanks & 7:30 p.m. in the Boyd Room, 201 Reichardt Building, University of Alaska Fairbanks Free to the public ...

The Alaska Volcano Observatory changed the Aviation Color Code of Iliamna Volcano to Yellow on Friday, March 9. Over the past three months the earthquake rate at the volcano has steadily increased and now exceeds normal background levels. Although it is not certain that this sustained increase in earthquake activity represents the movement of magma at depth, it is a significant change and AVO has...

Following apparent explosive activity and a resultant small ash cloud on February 18, 2012, the Alaska Volcano Observatory elevated the Aviation Color Code to YELLOW and the Volcano Alert Level to ADVISORY for Kanaga Volcano in Alaska's Aleutians. Volcanic tremor had been detected on the local seismic network at Kanaga, followed by numerous small events for about an hour. Short-lived...

Workshop description: This day-and-a-half awareness-level course will provide participants with an understanding of the complex factors that influence volcanic crises: the hazards, vulnerabilities, impacts, and risks and the tools and processes that support monitoring, forecasts, warnings, preparedness, mitigation, and response. This course enhances the abilities of participants to support...

By Ned Rozell The latest meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco in December 2011 featured hundreds of talks about Earth science, some of those relating to Alaska (and some of those comprehensible to a non-scientist). Here are a few items from the notebook I carried around the Moscone Center: An Aleutian Island morphs at high speed: Chris Waythomas of the Alaska...

According to the Alaska Volcano Observatory, a single explosive event sent an ash cloud up to 15,000 feet from Cleveland Volcano. Satellite images from December 29 reveal the ash cloud has detached and is drifting east/southeast from the volcano. Based on the presence of an ash cloud, AVO has raised the aviation color code at Cleveland Volcano to ORANGE and alert level WATCH....

The Geophysical Institute has a strong presence at the American Geophysical Union's Fall Meeting in San Francisco. Joining forces with the Alaska Satellite Facility, the International Arctic Research Center, the Institute of Northern Engineering, the Water and Environmental Resources Center and the Institute of Marine Science, the GI is part of a combined booth in the Exhibitors Hall. The...

August 22 – 25, the Geophysical Institute hosted The Technical Cooperation Program’s Volcanic Ash Working Group Meeting at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Wood Center. Representatives from the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia and a variety of organizations including the U.S. Department of Defense, U.K. Ministry of Defence, Defence Research and Development Canada, U.S. Geological Survey...